Conceptualizing the brand in social media community: The five sources model

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.03.006Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Social media is challenging branding theory and practice.

  • This paper builds a conceptual model of Social Media Branding called the Five Sources Model.

  • This model focuses on the purpose and structure of the consumption.

  • Core consumption values: functional, emotional, self-oriented, social and relational.

Abstract

The emergence of social media is challenging the ways that marketing academics and practitioners conceptualize and manage brands. This research explores the consumers׳ specific motivations for the purpose and structure of the consumption of brands in social media community. Keeping the evolving economic relevance of social consumption in mind, the resulting conceptual model has been designed to give a better understanding of the unique branding opportunities and relationships that social media present to brand managers. The research employs a triangulated method that includes a social media-based Facebook focus group and face-to-face interviews. The findings suggest that consumers expect some very specific two-way interactions with brands and that social media may be the only way to effectively deliver these demands. This study identifies five core drivers of brand consumption in a social media community articulated in the Five Sources Model: functional, emotional, self-oriented, social and relational. These core drivers represent unique opportunities for brands to enhance their relationships with their customers and to increase the likelihood of an active and beneficial online community built around their brands. Future research implications are discussed.

Introduction

In 2013 one in four people globally use social networks (1.73 billion people) and this will rise to 2.55 billion in 2017 (eMarketer, 2014). In sum, social media is changing the game and it will have a major impact on business (Sands et al., 2011; Corstjens and Umblijs, 2012); transforming consumer behavior, relationships and traditional brand practice (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Consumers now possess almost unlimited opportunities to engage with brands (Christodoulides et al., 2012; Helm and Jones, 2010). The results of this increased brand access mandate changes in branding strategies towards engagement platforms (Naylor et al., 2012, Verhoef et al., 2010, Van Doorn et al., 2010).

Therefore, understanding brand consumption in a social media community demands a shift from marketer led brand to customer ownership and co-creation of meaning (Ostrom et al., 2010). Brand consumption is increasingly carried out in a social community collective context in which consumption value is an uninterrupted social process of stakeholder interactions (Vock et al., 2013, Merz et al., 2009). Consumption then becomes the social co-production of shared meanings (Tuominen, 2007, De Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2001). As Laroche et al. (2012) found, brand communities in social media had positive effects on the brand as well as shared community foundations, value creation processes as well as service quality (Ellahi and Bokhari, 2013). This continuous process of consumption and re-production intensifies the intangibility of the process, magnifies extensions (Van Riel et al., 2001): making it difficult for brand and consumer to have defined points of meaning (McDonald et al., 2001, p. 345). Even for product brands, which are not actually consumed within social media, the shift to social media as an additional channel for sales or advertising is relevant (Hoffman and Novak, 2012; Toral et al., 2009). Consumers are transformed from quiet, unnoticed individuals into a loud rambunctious noisy collective who want to ‘change’ the world (Libai et al., 2010, Patterson, 2011). Consumption now orients around a community of stakeholders that create and exchange content (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010) democratically (Reyneke et al., 2011), in cluttered, excessive spaces (Vanden Bergh et al., 2011, Morgan-Thomas and Veloutsou, 2011) where real-time accessibility and exchange are a social norm (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010). Service brands are also increasingly being consumed within the social media community, increasing the need for a better understanding of this consumption behavior.

Despite the unique challenges faced by brands, few models exist that explain the role of the brand in the relationships with consumers׳ and their social media consumption. As a result, marketers have had to impose traditional rules in brand communities. Like a large echoing room full or shouting people, this has created a torrent of continuous organized chaos that makes up brand consumption in the social media community. Therefore, to address this deficiency, we pose the following research question:

How are brands conceptualized in the consumption of social media community?

In this study the practice of consumption plays an important role in a consumer׳s everyday existence and reality. Therefore, our definition of consumption is based on Holt (1995): consuming is comprised of structure and purpose. In this way consumption encapsulates the unique characteristics of the two mediums; brand and social media technology: (1) structure of consumption is both brand and community and (2) purpose of consumption for the individual oneself as well interpersonal interactions with community.

To start building a theory of the social media brand we apply the grounded theory approach to the development of the conceptual model (Campbell et al., 2011, Goulding, 2005). A review of theoretical and practitioner literature on brands and social media lays the groundwork for a series of non-directive face-to-face interviews (Hirschman, 1986) with brand consumers who actively participate in brand social media communities. A concurrent social media Facebook focus group (Kozinets, 2010) allows triangulation of the data and informs the development of a framework that suggests that brand consumption in the social media community is characterized by five core consumption values called the Five Sources Model: functional, emotional, self-oriented, social, and relational. Understanding these values is an important way to understand the structure and purpose of consumption in the consumers׳ everyday lives and experiences (Campbell et al., 2011).

In the following section we review prior literature on the social media community and on brands. Specifically with aim of understanding social media brand consumption. Consistent with the grounded theory approach, this section provides a theory-based context for the subsequent data analysis and the development of the conceptual model. The next section describes the method employed to develop the conceptual model and uncover the consumer׳s consumption habits and motivations in the social media community. The remainder of the manuscript lays out the resulting propositions and Five Sources Model that will inform the discussion and the practitioner implications that follow.

The main contribution of this paper is three-fold. First, while, some studies have focused on brand related constructs (e.g., Georgi and Mink, 2013), most do not purposefully build a brand-specific model in social media community. Therefore, this research constructs a new model based on empirical evidence called the Five Sources Model. This model is important to branding theory as it positions social media community-based brand consumption around five core consumption values. Second, this model begins the process of conceptual model development. We are confident that this model and empirical evidence will motivate debate and discussion. Therefore, our paper places a strong emphasis on future research. Finally, the grounding of this process in consumer evidence also helps practioners understand the relevance to everyday branding practice. The comprehensive evidence collected online and offline helps us understand the role of these consumption values in the consumers׳ daily lived experiences.

Section snippets

Understanding social media branding

The conceptualization of community has a long history in sociological, cultural and communication research (Peck, 1987). Often the term is applied to almost any group of people, regardless of online or offline context, where the type of bond between the stakeholders defines the community. The idea of a consumption community arose because consumers have shared feelings and activities in the consumption of common objects (Friedman et al., 1992), for example, of brand cited such as Macintosh,

Method

The research takes a grounded theory approach, triangulating an online Facebook focus group with offline interviews (Wunderlich et al., 2013, Harrison and Reilly, 2011). This dual approach places the researcher at the focal point of a complex and elusive phenomenon (Gummesson, 2003) and allows for a process of questioning of the emerging conceptual model (Pettigrew, 2000). The online focus group allowed for participation, anonymity and accessibility (Kozinets, 2010; Hemetsberger and Reinhardt,

Findings

The five core elements of brand consumption in a social media community that evolved from the data analysis are presented here as propositions that inform a conceptual model. Some of the participant descriptions below address more than one perceived benefit, demonstrating the overlap of the five core elements.

Conceptual model

The intangible nature of services gives consumers the ability to co-create the brand and help define the experience for other consumers as well. When the easy interactivity of social media is added to the mix, a situation is created that gives the consumer a great deal of control. Despite the relevance of this phenomenon to both academics and practitioners, though, little prior research has explored the coalescence of brands and social media. Insights provided by the respondents in this study

Practitioner implications

This study identifies five core drivers of brand consumption in a social media community. This model is called the Five Sources Model. Each of these core drivers represents unique opportunities for brands to enhance the relationships they have with their customers and to increase the likelihood of an active and beneficial online community built around their brands. By recognizing the vital role that interactivity plays in social media, brand managers are in a position to harness the still

Research limitations

As is the case with any study, this one has certain limitations. First, the majority of the participants were New Zealanders. While we may not state that the findings are completely generalizable, we believe that the needs described by these participants are not unique to New Zealand and are indeed fairly consistent with most individualistic cultures (e.g., Pookulangara and Koesler, 2011). Second, data collection was limited to a participative Facebook focus group and a fairly compact set of

Future research

Like Aaker (1997), we advocated that future research may start with exploring and confirming the role of brand personality and its human characteristics in social media brand consumption. For example, in the consumers expression of their actual, ideal, social and virtual selves. If brand personality is important, how can it increase, in individual as well as cross-cultural settings, the consumer׳s brand preference, loyalty and usage (Malar et al., 2011)? Does brand personality impact

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